"This document presents the findings of an external review panel that evaluated the activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Marine Protected Areas Center (MPA Center) during its first decade of operations (2001-2011). The panel was tasked with assessing the past performance of and providing recommendations for future directions of the MPA Center. This report is not intended to be a consensus document. Rather, it is a compilation of the individual inputs of the members of the external review panel. These inputs are based on the panel members' individual reviews of hundreds of pages of information and summaries of accomplishments provided by staff throughout the MPA Center, as well as input provided by nearly 50 stakeholders nationwide with an interest in the MPA Center. MPA Center staff and an expert panel of stakeholders provided their input directly to the panel during a three-day meeting in Monterey, California, in January 2012"--Preface.

National Ocean Service (NOS)

United States